Acceptance

Unexpectedly, Izanami ended up in a room in the stalker’s headquarters—the last place she would’ve stepped a foot in.

Izanami had sat down on the couch, facing both the girl and a man that seemed taken aback.

“How she behaved was her fault. Her way of communication included, so please accept our apology for being improper.” He then bowed, forcing the girl along.

The man’s reassurance was committing, eventually leading to Izanami to back down as well.

She gripped her sheathed sword that’s laid on her lap. “Alright, its fine.”

The man was relieved to hear her reply, then a second later, he let his anger lose on the girl.

“What were you thinking?! Use you head!”

While he let loose, the two girls stayed quiet. Though the one who started it all didn’t say anything, she did however, frown upon her mistakes while crossing her arms.

“She’s a Drafter and our target isn’t! How many times did I tell you to pay attention in class—?!” He firmly phrased out the one important statement that could’ve prevented it all. “Drafters. Can’t. Force. A. Contract.”

After that rant, he was out of breath.

“Are you done now?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks for the lecture.”

I feel very out of place…, Izanami thought.

“Now introduce yourself,” the man asked.

“…Shiroma Hana. 17 and a Drafter like you.” And shyly avoided eye contact. “Nice to meet you.”

Izanami faintly smiled and introduced herself, ending it off with a—“Nice to meet you too.”

“Nice. I go by Kon.”

Izanami nodded.

Now, you might ask how Izanami even got in the same room as the same person that stalked her. Well, right after Shiroma Hana supposedly le—After she turned back to Izanami, suddenly she was needed.

This then leads to Kon’s pursue.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

Izanami listened in. “Ask away…?”

“So, going past the you-know-all-that-happened…I—No, we as a group need your strength.”

“So your recruiting me? And why should I accept that? Is it a threat?”

“No, not at all. In fact, we protect this city from those who seek destruction, while also maintaining the position of freeing spirits back to where they’re supposed to be. Since your a Drafter, have you experienced such doing?”

She surely has. She remembers freeing the spirit that took attachment to the local bathhouse.

“Yeah, i have.”

“How…was it?”

She faintly smiled and hesitated on her answer. “…Not so bad.”

Now, Kon was so sure that Izanami isn’t one of their targets, let alone a bad person. Just by Izanami’s response and reaction alone, he could tell that light and purity is present in her heart.

“Great, that’s all I needed to hear.”

Compared to Shiroma Hana, her personality favors Kon way more. Its less tiring to deal with in his opinion.

“I heard during the ‘mission’ you stalked someone.”

Kon knew what he was doing and according to his plan, Hana fell for his tease.

“What the hell is your problem!?” Hana shouted.

“ ‘And second of all, you—a Drafter—is on my turf.’ ”

“I’m leaving!”

Hana stormed out of the room, flinging the door open right before shutting it hard.

“Wow…was that really necessary?”

Izanami stared at Kon with disappointment.

“Uhh, I… Maybe not…?” He awkwardly grins as he shrugs. To change the subject, Kon quickly grabs Izanami’s attention. “Well anyways, you can look around the place since you’ll be here often.”

“Speaking of this place, why is it so massive? I thought you guys were just a small group as you mentioned earlier.”

Her curious nature spoke out. And boldly, he responded with a vague statement.

“Let’s just say a very nice business man took our side, the good side.”

Izanami left the room after Kon’s green lit.

“The place is probably as big as I could think.”

She continues to wander, and after just a little further, she spots a few rooms with bunk beds inside a vast facility. Could be for training?

Since it was odd to her, she didn’t think any further and wandered around more.

“Noktu,” she whispered.

I’m here. I already heard everything.

“Then what do you think? Should I trust them?”

Mmm…it’s tough to say, but they don’t seem bad.

“Right…that’s quite helpful.”

They’re goals pretty much aligns with everything you’ve done.

“…Ah, I don’t know.”

Then what do you want to do?

“—”

With no answer to Noktu’s question, Izanami probably wasn’t even considering it. Noktu wasn’t sure whether her silence was because due to deficiency or just uncertainty.

Either way, the growing silence really made things awkward for a while.

After some time, she headed back to the room, only to find it empty.

She examined the room. Very classy compared to the rest. Then left the room, closing the door shut.

“How was your little self tour?” A voice said.

Izanami looked up to see Kon stood in front. He almost startled her with his quiet appearance.

“It was good. There’s quite a few interesting areas here.”

“Yeah, and thanks for trusting us.” The last words was soft spoken.

He scratched his head, waiting for a response.

“It’s fine—”

“—Oi!”

Izanami’s words were interrupted by Hana who’s now also present.

Kon frowned in worry, and so did Izanami.

“Let’s drop you off home, shall we…?” Kon asked.

“Yes, I would like that…” Izanami responded.

When they got outside, a black car was already waiting beside the pavement. Besides the black car, the vehicle behind it stood out to Izanami a little more.

It’s the same van from before., Izanami thought.

Hm? Noktu replied.

Nothing.

The driver opened the door to get out. After walking around, he faced the group of three and bowed. From the passenger’s side, he opened the door, waiting for an entrance.

Izanami headed inside the car. She made sure to position her sword to gain better entry. Right after entering, the driver closed the door and head back into his initial seat.

Shiroma Hana knocked thrice on the tinted black windows. The windows pulled down, then she gets close to Izanami.

Hana whispers. “From now on, be careful, especially in public areas.”

Izanami hesitated to reply. “…Right.”

Even though she agreed, her dark eyes said otherwise.

———᯽———

“Thank you.”

As Izanami thanked the driver for the drop off, the driver went on his way after a nod.

Izanami went up the stairs that lead to her apartment floor. It wasn’t too many, but she made sure to hurry up in case someone spots her being armed.

No one nearby will see.

“What do you mean?”

People are inside their homes.

It is quite dark. I would say around evening time. The time where houses and street lights light up.

“Ah…” said Izanami as she unlocked her door, hurrying inside right before closing the door.

She sighed, finally back inside. Taking off her shoes and placing her katana right beside them.

Next, she headed towards her room, which is to the right, across the hallway when first entering in.

Her room has no flavor, just mundane. Its not filled with anything decor of sort. Its small, but empty in both space and soul.

However, she prefers that. Back at the headquarters, she didn’t like how the rooms stood out, especially the bright silver color that glistened.

Sat down on the thick, but soft blanket that covered majority of her bed.

Izanami ponders.

“—”

What’s up?

“Nothing much.”

Really?

This isn’t the first time Noktu felt suspicious. It sometimes can’t even guess what she’s thinking.

“I’m just wondering… Can my sword disappear?”

Like how it appeared out of nowhere?

“Yeah.”

Carrying such a weapon nowadays is one thing. Eyewitnesses and the police is another.

Yes. It disappeared.

Izanami opened her room door, peeking her head out. The sword that rested against the wall is now gone.

“Oh, your right!” She closed the door and sat back down. Crossing her arms, she now wonders. “How did you do that?”

Just by declaring it. You need it to appear? You declare, and vice versa.

“Ohhh!”

Noktu’s simple explanation made perfect sense to Izanami. So, just as It said, she declared the appearance of her sword. Though, quietly.

“I did it!” Her held out hand now carried the sheathed katana that helped defend herself—No, it made her capable.

Then, she declared the opposite. “It’s now gone!”

See?

“—”

It appeared once more in her hand. Then it disappeared. She repeated this exact cycle dozens of times.

Can you…?

“Oh yeah, my bad.” How fun.

Yeah…i can tell.

After Izanami stopped fooling around, she cleared her mind and goes to sit at her desk. She opened her notebook and grabbed a pen from the tray. With her free hand, she opened the bottom drawer, taking out a textbook for a subject. There’s still some time left before night.

Ready to write, she—

…What are you doing?

With a sigh, she first explained a bit for context, but in a dumbfounded way. Concluding with: “Its called studying. Exams are coming close.”

…tests…devotion…reading…acquiring knowledge…

“Yeah, yeah.” said Izanami in a exhausted manner while writing.

But then, she halted.

“…Last time you learned a slang word, how?”

Yup, when you were watching TV.

“You even picked up an acronym…” Perplexed as she is, this was an outright advantage. “There might be something in this.”

Hm?

“You can take in knowledge just by me doing things, so, how about I personally teach you something every night while you teach me more about how things work…like probably using my katana consecutively.”

As your partner and the things we already went through really struck us, I would gladly take your offer.

She continued writing after Its confirmation. “Alright.”

And then she suddenly sulks. Because tomorrow, she’s got to worry about Ran.

It seems I’ve missed quite a lot.

“Yeah, quite a lot…”

—Remembering how quickly their friendship changed in just one day (actually, ever since the alleyway—)

“Well… Me and my best friend… We got in a small argument.”

Oh boy…